This application claims the priority of German Application No. 103 47 609.1 filed Oct. 9, 2003, the disclosure of which is expressly incorporated by reference herein.
It has been sufficiently known to load completely assembled vehicles for a further transport on freight cars and to implement the transport by rail vehicles. In this case, the completely assembled vehicles can be rolled onto the freight cars and, because of their own damping, can be transported there without the risk of torsion.
From German Registered Utility Patent DE 202 20 470 U1, a transport device is known on which a preassembled constructional unit of a vehicle (body) without a chassis can be transported between mutually remote production sites. Such a transport device has the advantage that fixing and supporting devices between the base frame of the transport device and a frame floor of the preassembled vehicle body permit a transport on a transport vehicle, such as the freight cars of a rail vehicle.
It is an object of the invention to provide an arrangement for loading vehicle bodies by means of which, at the end of their assembly, the vehicle bodies can be received from the production process in a simple manner and can be prepared for a loading onto a transport vehicle. For this purpose, the vehicle bodies are to be placed on cargo carriers, as known, for example, as a transport device from the above-mentioned German Patent Document DE 202 20 470 U1.
Advantages achieved by means of certain preferred embodiments of the invention essentially are that the assembled vehicle bodies, which are continuously available from the production process for loading, are continuously removed after their final inspection and prepared for the loading, even if no transport vehicle is available for a final removal.
The use of cargo carriers, onto which the vehicle bodies are placed, advantageously ensures that the vehicle bodies are protected from damage as a result of vibrations and torsion on the transport vehicle.
According to certain preferred embodiments of the invention, the individual stations of the loading arrangement are mutually coordinated such and are monitored by a central control unit that purely automated processes and manual processes alternate, and the safety of the persons who carry out the manual processes is simultaneously ensured. The use of light barriers and sensors for recognizing end positions and for securing dangerous areas has the advantage that automatic processes are stopped when another process has not yet been concluded and that a warning signal takes place.
According to certain preferred embodiments of the invention, all information is conducted to a control unit which monitors the implementation of the individual operating steps.
Furthermore, it is advantageous according to certain preferred embodiments of the invention, that all vehicle bodies are provided with an identification number, so that information is available in the control unit at any time as to which vehicle body is just being loaded and at which site it is located in the transport vehicle. Likewise, each freight car is provided with an identification number. Therefore, precisely that vehicle body which is loaded into it can be assigned to each freight car. This has the advantage that, when the freight car is later unloaded, the exact sequence of the vehicle bodies can be maintained for the feeding to the further production.
The individual operations sequence and working stations will be explained in detail in the following by means of the figures.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.